September woes

I generally avoid writing about my personal life in my blog but this time I think it is too relevant to ignore. This will also help clarify, just in case, dear friends, you wondered why I wasn't updating my blog.

By the way, I admire the courage and frankness of those bloggers who write beautiful details about their personal life in their blogs. I am a little shy in these matters.

Is everything all right? It was not all right but now it is. Thank God.

My daughter Zara had joined a child care centre in late August and on the 4th day itself she came home with fever. We gave her paracetamol and the fever went away over the weekend. But it came back with a vengeance on Monday.

My parents were going back to India on Sep 8 (after 4 months of their stay here) and the same day we had to hospitalise Zara. She had been running very high fever for more than 3 days and when there was no improvement after 3 days of medication, her doctor advised hospitalisation. She was on drip for 3 days and was discharged on the 4th.

Given Zara's condition, my parents wanted to stay on for one more week but the airline was unable to give next dates until October. So, I told them to go back to India anyway. My younger sister in India was to deliver a baby and her reports were not coming out well. So anxiety on both fronts.

Before Zara fell sick, my wife got a job with a firm. She had gone to office only for two days when Zara was hospitalised.

My parents were supposed to stay on until January or thereabouts so that they could take care of Zara. But they had this Hajj programme and also because of my sister's upcoming delivery, they could not stay any longer. So, there, man proposes and God disposes. This upset all our planning.

Both of us had to stay on in the hospital. Shabana could not go to office for the next one week. Now she has joined back and I have made an arrangement with my office to work from home. So these days, I've been fasting and working and babysitting Zara and it is all so very strenuous. Meanwhile, we had been searching for a maid and running from agency to agency. Last week we interviewed a Filipina maid and applied for the Govt's approval. Two days back, we finally got the maid, and things seems to be getting better now. From this Friday, I think I shall be able to resume normal work from my office.

That, is a long story, cut short for you. When I wrote to a friend about my September woes, he said: "That, as Alice says, is a long and sad tale. But no sympathies - these are pangs of fatherhood and I have been through them thrice. Insha Allah, all will be fine, as it usually is, but the mid course travails are really blood sucking."

If you are an experienced parent, I am sure you will say the same thing. But there are some lessons here for those who are not married or planning a child.